Box Score GREENSBORO, N.C. – Spartan Baseball got a quality start from senior pitcher Keaton Haack (Greensboro, N.C./Pitt CC) in the first weekend start of his career. UNCG earned a 13-6 victory over the East Tennessee State Buccaneers on Saturday afternoon, getting seven strong innings on the mound from Haack. The Spartans improve to 30-11 overall, and 9-2 in the Southern Conference. ETSU falls to 16-22, and 3-8 in the SoCon.
“Keaton (Haack) had a good top of the first, and our bottom of the first set the tone.” Head Coach Link Jarrett said, “It started with Keaton on the mound, and he knew exactly how he needed to pitch to be successful. He did a great job against a team that can really hit, and really score. We were much better offensively today. Collin Woody had a great day, (Michael) Goss had a great day, (Andrew) Moritz was back on it, and it was a well-rounded offensive game. We ran the bases well and our at bats were good. That's a good solid win against a team that can really score.”
Collin Woody (Tampa, Fla./College of Central Florida) paced the Spartan offense, going 3-for-5 with three RBI, and three runs scored. Woody added his eighth home run of the season, as well as his team-leading 16th double.
Dillon Stewart (Dunn, N.C./Brunswick CC) and Michael Goss (Cartersville, Ga./Chattanooga St. CC) each had three hits and two RBI in the contest. Goss finished with a triple and two doubles to go with a run scored. Stewart scored once and stole a base.
Cesar Trejo (Greensboro, N.C./Ragsdale) added three hits, along with an RBI. Andrew Moritz (Charlotte, N.C./Providence) added two hits, including his seventh triple of the season, an RBI and a run scored.
Ryne Sigmon (Danville, Va./Danville CC), Jake Kusz (Durham, N.C./Riverside) and L.J. Kalawaia (Wailuku, Hawai'i/Ohlone College) all added a hit, with Kalawaia scoring three runs. Sigmon and Kusz each added an RBI and a run scored. Ben Spitznagel (Cincinnati, Ohio/Wabash Valley CC) scored a run in the victory.
Haack (3-1) started and earned the win. He threw a career-high 7.0 innings, allowed six hits, four runs, only one of which was earned, while striking out two batters. Drew Goodman (Charlotte, N.C./Hopewell) logged a career-high 1.1 innings, surrendering two runs and striking out three batters. Ben Kerner (Cary, N.C./Brunswick CC) finished up the final two outs in the ninth, recording a strikeout to end the game.
The Spartans wasted no time, taking a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Spitznagel led off, drawing a walk. Moritz tripled after hitting a line drive off the wall in right field before scoring on a wild pitch. Kalawaia drew another walk before a single from Woody put two on. After a wild pitch put both in scoring position, Stewart dropped a single in front of the right fielder to score Kalawaia. Woody later scored on a fielder's choice to give UNCG the lead.
UNCG added another run in the bottom of the third. After a Sigmon single, Goss doubled to push the lead to 6-0.
The Spartans hung a crooked number in the bottom of the fourth inning, plating five runs. Kalawaia started the inning, reaching on a throwing error from the ETSU shortstop. Woody doubled to right center to score one and scored on a Stewart single. Kusz hit his second double of the afternoon, scoring Stewart before being brought around on a triple from Goss. Trejo added another run, hitting a fly ball deep to center field, allowing Goss to score.
UNCG tacked on two more in the bottom of the fifth on Woody's two-run home run to left field.
The Navy and Gold added another run in the bottom of the sixth inning. Goss led off with a double down the right field line and scored when Trejo ran out an infield hit and an error allowed Goss to score from second.
ETSU was able to get on the board in the top of the seventh inning, scoring four runs on four hits, with the help of two Spartan errors. The Buccaneers added two more on a two-run home run in the top of the ninth inning.
The Spartans and Bucs will face off in the final game of the series on Sunday, April 24th at the UNCG Baseball Stadium at 1:00 p.m. UNCG will be looking for its fifth series sweep this season.
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